Like A Rose
by kono yona usotsuki
Summary: "I don't like roses...especially the red ones..."


**Hey y'all!  
This is my piece for the contest on Deviant Art.. We had to write an ItaDei fic, with the theme "rose".**

**It took me 4 days to write this. Hope you people like it. Long live ItaDei!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

Itachi sighed and closed his eyes. Not wanting to look at anything. He crossed his arms and sat down on his back porch. Nobody was at home. His mother and father had gone to some relative's house. To celebrate Valentine's Day. He was completely alone. Itachi frowned. He just did not get the point. This day was so pointless! Why did people express their love or feeling for someone on just this single day? They did it everyday! And what was the deal with roses? Especially the red ones…

Itachi's eyes snapped open, when he felt a chakra signal nearby. He sat there tense and alert for a second and then relaxed when he recognized it.

"Hi, Itachi, un!" sang his friend Deidara, a blue eyed blonde girl. She was dressed in a simple black short-sleeved shirt and blue pants. She walked over to him and stood in front of him. "Why are you sitting out here for, yeah?" She was the only female who didn't annoy him or throw herself at him. She was a tomboy and had a strange habit of saying 'yeah' and 'un' at the end of her sentences.

"Hn…" Itachi said.

"Hmmm…nobody home, yeah?" she said. She also had the habit of mostly understanding what he was saying.

"Isn't that obvious?" he said, looking up at her. Deidara tilted her head to one side, and looked at him with her piercing blue eyes. Itachi watched as her curtain of long straight blonde hair fall to one side. Her hair was usually in a half pony and Itachi rarely saw it any other way.

"Aren't we in a good mood today, yeah?" she said, crossing her arms.

"Hn." And he closed his eyes again.

Deidara sighed and looked at her grumpy friend. "I know what will cheer you up!" she said. Itachi looked up at her again, opening his ever-blank onyx eyes. He raised an eyebrow.

"Hand please, yeah." she said, extending her arm towards the Uchiha. Itachi didn't move. He was too busy admiring her hair again. The rays of the sun shone down on her hair, making it a molten gold color.

"Itachi, un…" Deidara said in an exasperated tone and reached over, grabbed his arm and pulled him onto his feet within seconds. Itachi didn't flinch from contact or try to break it. Her warm and soft hand felt nice.

"Come on…I wanna show you something, yeah." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him all the way. Itachi looked at the way her skin color contrasted against his. Her skin was a light brown color, tanned and so soft. His was pale, almost porcelain and soft as well…But not as soft was hers. He looked up and at her hair that never ceased to fascinate him. It was like a long golden waterfall.

"So, Itachi un…Why were you sitting all alone?" Deidara didn't look back, but kept on walking.

Itachi just 'hn'ed'. "Where are we going?" he asked.

Deidara just sighed. Seriously, her friend could be so frustrating at times! Itachi refused to talk about anything that bothered him. If she wasn't holding his hand right now, she would turn around and smack him. But she didn't want to let go of his hand. Not yet.

"You'll see, yeah!" Deidara sang back, knowing it would annoy him. Itachi 'hn'ed' again. He hated it when she did that.

They walked a little more before arriving at the gates of a park. "Here we are, yeah!" said Deidara. "The park?" thought Itachi. Deidara pushed open the gates and pulled him with her. "I wanna show you something, un."

"What?" Itachi asked. But she didn't answer again. They walked a little more before they came to a secluded area. Itachi stopped and looked at the view around him.

There were hundreds and hundreds of roses, all in full bloom. Many pretty colored butterflies were fluttering here and there, occasionally perching on a rose. There were roses of every color imaginable, pink, magenta, yellow, peach, light orange and dark orange, white and even mixtures of magenta and yellow, orange and yellow, pink and yellow and….red. Itachi scowled and looked away.

Deidara looked at him, confused. "What's wrong, un? Don't you like it?" Itachi refused to answer and pulled his hand away. Deidara looked back at the wonderful sight in front of them. To any normal person and her, it looked like the most beautiful sight in the world. But to Itachi…

"Hey, un…"Deidara placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't you like it?" Itachi just sighed and looked away. He wanted to go back; to his house away from the sea of red and at the same time he didn't want to hurt her or leave Deidara alone. He was caught up.

Deidara sat down and pulled Itachi down next to her. Itachi allowed himself to be pulled down. They both sat there quietly for a while, before Deidara decided to break the silence. "Look, isn't that one pretty? It looks as white as snow." Itachi looked up, careful not to look at the sea of red and saw that Deidara was right. The white roses looked like a small blanket of snow. Itachi watched as a small, white and black butterfly fluttered over and perched itself on a white rose.

"And look! Those roses have the same color as cotton candy." Itachi looked and saw that once again she was right. The roses were small as compared to the other giants. They looked very soft too.

"And look, un! Those yellow roses look so pretty!" And once again, she was right. There were so many of them, all looking so cheerful. The color yellow reminded him of Deidara, always happy and mellow, never complaining. Even though Deidara's family wasn't very well off, it didn't bother her one bit. She wore clothes that were either to big or too small for her and girls made fun of her. She liked to make little clay figures and blow them up. "Art is a bang." she said. She loved art and said that it was a beauty but it didn't last forever. It was there for a second and then it was gone. Itachi had to agree with her.

Itachi looked at the roses. She was right. These roses were a fine example of beauty and they wouldn't last forever. Itachi's eyes fell on the red ones and he frowned. No, she was wrong. Those roses would fade, but their color, it would haunt him reminding him of the memories he didn't want to think of.

"What do you think of red roses, un?" Deidara asked him. She was glad that he had decided to stay and not run away. She was also happy that he was paying attention. She looked at the red roses. She liked the red ones best. They reminded her so much of Itachi.

"I don't like roses. Especially red ones." Deidara looked at Itachi in surprise. "Huh? Why not? They're pretty, yeah."

Itachi sighed. "They remind me of…them."

"Them?" she repeated confused.

"Their screams, their cries of pain, the destruction, the noise, the…." Itachi trailed off. He was about to say 'the blood', the crimson liquid that filled a person with life.

"Oh…" Deidara looked at him, feeling a little guilty. Of course, Uchiha Itachi hadn't had a happy and innocent childhood. And he had also seen through the 3rd Great Shinobi World War, and he had only been 4. He had graduated from the academy when he was only seven, mastered his clan's special ability when he was only 8 and he was the only 13 year old boy who was ANBU Captain. Itachi hadn't had much love in life. He was the son of the Chief of Police, Head of Clan's son and he had a great burden to carry. Itachi had grown up too soon. Way too soon.

"Why do you like them so much?" he asked.

"Huh?" Deidara looked up, brought out of her thoughts by Itachi's voice. "Like what, yeah?"

"The roses. The red ones." Itachi said, not looking at her. "Why do you like roses at all? They have thorns and they hurt you when you try to pluck them. They don't last forever and they wilt. What's to like about them?"

Deidara looked at Itachi for a few minutes. And sighed. "You said all the bad things about them, un. There is a nice side to them too, yeah."

Itachi looked at her, eyebrow raised as if to "Oh really? Like what?"

"For one thing, roses are pretty. And they're colorful. And I agree they have thorns, but sometimes…it worth the pain. If you pluck a rose for someone you love, you don't care about the pain. Because you know that the person loves you too and will take care of you and appreciate it." She smiled and looked at the roses and her eyes rested on the red roses.

He nodded slowly. "But why the red ones?" Itachi asked.

Deidara turned a little red. "Well…" she said. She nervously rubbed the back of her head and gave an embarrassed laugh. Itachi looked at her again. Iwa Deidara, the girl who was never afraid to speak her mind was hesitating?

"Well…it's because they…well…. remind me of….well…you."

Itachi's other brow came up and he looked at her, face fully turned to her.

Deidara continued. "The color. It reminds me of your eyes. When you activate your Sharingan. The color is red, just like those roses. And they're soft and warm. Just like you. People think that you're harsh and cold because you have thorns. People won't go near you because they don't want to get hurt by those thorns. But they're wrong again."

Itachi looked at her. Deidara continued. "You don't hurt them on purpose. You hurt them because you have to. To protect yourself."

Itachi listened in silence as Deidara talked. He didn't even notice when she fell silent. Deidara peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. Had she said something wrong? Deidara was almost afraid to say another word.

"So, I'm like a rose?" Itachi spoke. Deidara looked at him. "You're wrong. Very wrong. I'm nothing like it. I'm a harsh person. I've killed many people. I've seen them fall to their deaths. I'm not soft like you say. I'm hard. And I'm not warm either. I'm cold. And my eyes? They're the color of blood. I don't care if people get hurt. I'm unfeeling. I'm heartless. I'm inhuman."

Deidara looked at Itachi quietly not saying a word. Then she quietly stood up and walked over to the red roses. She bent down and stretched a hand towards the largest rose the one with the most thorns. Itachi's eyebrows shot up when he saw her fingers wrap around the thorns.

Itachi opened her mouth to stop her, but stopped when Deidara glanced back he stopped. There was the challenge in her eyes and Itachi watched as her hand wrapped around the stem and bent it. Itachi closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to watch those soft hands get cut by those vicious thorns. He heard a barely audible snap, thanks to his sharp hearing abilities. He heard Deidara walking towards him. He was almost afraid to open his eyes and he felt Deidara sit in front of him.

Without a word, Deidara wiped her right hand, that was stinging and she gently held the rose up. She put it to Itachi's cheek, who gave a little jerk. Deidara ignored him and traced his cheek with it. She watched his face closely.

Itachi sat there, still as a statue, afraid to move. The feel of the soft rose petals was a little uncomfortable at first but he was starting to like it. Deidara's silence was what was making him…nervous.

"So you say that you're unfeeling, un." she spoke, startling him. "It doesn't look like it. I can tell that you like it, yeah ." She traced his neck with the rose.

Itachi didn't speak.

"So you say that you're cold. I don't think so, yeah." Deidara reached out and touched his cheek with her left hand. Itachi didn't move. Deidara put the rose down.

"If you were cold, then you wouldn't want this warm hand on your cheek, un. You would prefer nothing. Tell me, do you want me to remove this hand, yeah?"

Itachi still didn't answer. Deidara smiled. She took his silence as a yes. Then Deidara placed her right hand on his chest, right where his heart was. It was beating rapidly. "You say you're heartless...if you are….then why do you have a heart and why is it beating, yeah?"

Itachi didn't move. Deidara took his right hand in her left and placed his hand on his heart. Itachi sat there, quiet as mouse. If any ordinary person had looked at the whole scene, they would've said that he was unaffected. But Deidara knew better. She could feel the slight increase in his breathing, the rapid beating of his heart, his skin that was growing warm with each passing second.

"Hmmm…where did I put that rose? Can't find it, un. Guess I'll have to go get another one." Deidara sighed and removed her hands from Itachi's chest, letting his hand fall. She got up and had just turned around, when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Deidara smiled to herself and looked down.

Itachi's eyes were glowing red, the wheels spinning. His hand was like a vise on her wrist. "You made your point." Itachi stated in a monotonous voice. Only it wasn't monotonous.

Deidara looked at his face and then sat down on her knees, facing him. Itachi continued to glare at her, but Deidara just smiled and said, "See? It was worth the pain." She raised her hand that was decorated with little specks and smears of red.

Itachi looked at her and understood what she meant. She just smiled and leaned closer. Itachi felt his face getting warm and tried to remain dignified as possible. "You're so cute when you blush, yeah." she whispered in his ear. Itachi dare not move, lest he do something wrong.

Deidara pressed her lips to his cheek and Itachi's eyes widened for a moment and then closed, smiling. Deidara smiled when she felt his lips curve. Deidara slowly leaned back, still smiling at Itachi.

"DEIDARA!" a voice called. Deidara turned her hair flying all over the place. She made to stand up but Itachi grabbed her wrist. Deidara looked at Itachi, who looked back, his eyes back to normal now. He slowly took her injured hand and ran his thumb over her hand soothingly.

"DEIDARA!"

"Coming…" Deidara replied, dazed and unable to speak.

"Hurry up, will ya? Mother wants help at the restaurant and she doesn't like to be kept waiting! You know how she gets."

Itachi slowly put the hand to his lips and kissed it. Deidara's eyes widened a little more.

"DEIDARA! Are you gonna come or not!" Deidara jumped as if she had been shocked and Itachi let go of her hand.

"Go." Itachi said, smiling. Deidara looked at him and then smiled. A big heartwarming smile that he loved.

"Coming, yeah!" Deidara yelled and ran off.

Itachi watched her disappear. And then he looked at the red rose that lay next to him. He slowly put his hand to his cheek that she had kissed. And smiled.

Roses weren't so bad…he thought. He picked it up. Red ones were nice, but he liked the yellow ones better. Much, much better.

**There!**

**Man, that was something. Tell me what you think folks!**

**Love, Iffy.**


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